CentOS-7 for x86-64 Released

CentOS Linux 7 for 64-bit x86 compatible machines was released last July 7, 2014. It is the first release for CentOS-7 and is version marked as 7.0-1406

A free enterprise-class and community-supported Linux distribution for web servers, CentOS aims to have full functional compatibility with its upstream source, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It is derived from sources freely provided to the public by Red Hat. Though Red Hat is officially sponsoring the CentOS project as of January 2014, CentOS developers work as part of the Red Hat’s Open Source and Standards team, separate from the RHEL team. A CentOS Governing Board has also been established to ensure the community, goals, and brand of the project continue to be protected.

CentOS-7 supports an upgrade path from CentOS-6 v6.5. All its ‘channels’ are also available to the system administrator at the time of installation—a conscious departure from Red Hat’s usage of installation codes. This version comes with open VMware tools and 3D graphic drivers out of the box. It also supports installation of UEFI Secure Boot on compatible hardware. Other notable changes for this release include the following features: